Get Healthy with Garlic and Gang

Allium vegetables, most notably garlic, but also it close friends onions, leeks, and chives, have been shown to have a number of exceptional health benefits for those that eat them regularly. In addition to keeping the body healthy and strong, especially the cardiovascular system, these vegetables also ward of numerous diseases, promote an all-around healthy immune system, and can even be used as treatment for several maladies. These health benefits, treatments, and much more are discussed in greater detail below.

Health Benefits

Though it might be smelly, garlic still boasts an impressive array of health benefits. These have been known and used for hundreds of years in many different areas of the world. In fact, the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans all used garlic for numerous treatments as did the ancient Indians and the Chinese.

Most of garlic’s health benefits are targeted on the cardiovascular system. It can help promote a healthy heart and healthy lungs along with healthy blood. At the same time that it does this, it also promotes a strong immune system and helps protect your body from viruses, bacteria, and infections. Furthermore, raw garlic can be taken as a natural antibiotic of sorts. Because bacteria rarely becomes resistant to this raw garlic, it can help take care of those pesky and sometimes dangerous strains that have already become resistant to other types of antibiotics.

Even just eating garlic on a regular basis, adding it to your normal everyday diet, has its rewards. In addition to improving cardiovascular health, it keeps the digestive system working properly, regulates blood sugar, and eases joint pain. The anti-oxidants in it can protect your body from certain cancers, lower your risk for heart disease and stroke, and lower your bad cholesterol levels. It is also prized as a way to treat and prevent Candida which can cause yeast infections when left untreated.

Basically, garlic has a ton of health benefits and onions, leeks, and chives have many of these too. When eaten altogether on a regular basis, either in the same meal or rotated from day to day to prevent taste boredom, these allium vegetables pack a seriously healthy punch.

Supplements for Treatment

If you want to reap the rewards of garlic and its friend’s health benefits, your best bet is to just eat them in their natural state, whether by themselves or as part of a meal. The reason for this is that many of the garlic supplements on the market, while potentially easier to remember to take, lack the health punch that the actual vegetables do.

However, good garlic supplements can be found and are especially beneficial if you are sick or struggling with an illness or infection that garlic is known to help with. Make sure that the garlic supplement you choose is based on the whole food, contains allicin and allinase, and has an enteric coating. When you find one with all of these characteristics, then you know you have found a keeper.

What About the Smell?

Garlic’s somewhat stinky smell comes from the sulfur compound that it contains. This compound is made primarily of allicin and allinase. Without this stinky smell, the antibacterial and anti-fungal effects of garlic are seriously muted. In essence, if it doesn’t smell, it doesn’t have any health benefits. This is why it is important to find a garlic supplement that smells just like normal garlic does. Deodorized or odorless supplements just won’t cut it.

There are plenty of incredibly healthy foods out there but few have such an extensive and varied array of health benefits as garlic and its gang of allium vegetables do. If you are looking to improve your overall health or combat one of the specific maladies mentioned above, then you need to seriously consider adding garlic to your everyday diet.